1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electric vehicle charging connector and an assembly including the connector and a vehicle side connector engaged thereby in charging a power battery of an electric vehicle, as well as to an electric vehicle charging system employing the electric vehicle charging connector assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A power battery provided in a body of an electric vehicle needs to be frequently charged and accordingly, an external charging power source needs to be readily connected to the power battery of the electric vehicle. For this purpose, a vehicle side connector is conventionally mounted on the body of the electric vehicle, and an electrical connector connected to a power source is connected to the vehicle side connector so that the power battery can be charged.
However, the connector of the above-described type only functions to electrically connect a power battery charging circuit provided in the body of the electric vehicle to the external charging power source. Accordingly, a user or a driver cannot obtain, from the connector itself, information as to whether the power battery is being charged, information as to how long it will take for the power battery to be fully charged, information as to the remaining capacity of the power battery, or the like.
The information as described above may be displayed on a control panel of an external battery charger or an instrument panel of the electric vehicle. However, it is desirable, from the viewpoint of the charging operation, that the information be obtained at the charging connector itself. Furthermore, because charging the power battery of the electric vehicle is carried out more frequently than the fueling of a gasoline-powered automobile, the battery of the electric vehicle is charged via a cable from a commercial power source provided at the home of an owner of the electric vehicle rather than at a charge station. Because the battery charger is not located outside of the vehicle in such a case, it is further desirable for the charging connector to provide the information concerning the charging conditions.